Lyra brought three unquestioned signatures before she brought the one she wanted to disbelieve.
A household appointment. An ordinary land payment. A letter accepting an invitation her father had complained about for a week before attending.
Maris Bend laid them beside the certified chapel authorization in the protected interview room.
Mera sat where she had chosen to sit before.
“I want the comparison made before I ask you about it,” Lyra said.
The recorder nodded.
The originals had been checked against the archive references. The authorization’s entry appeared in the older procedure index, before the later annotations extending its use. Its seal matched the genuine family examples, not the compromised mark from the road.
Maris examined the hand with the independent comparison notes supplied by the record office.
