17 — Suspects I filled Jonathan in on everything I knew and a lot I suspected. I recounted in exacting detail Daelus' flight from the entourage assassins including every aspect of their use which could betray the delegate at the helm.

  We decided that though I had made the killing blow myself, we’d still consider this a murder and the delegate behind the entourage the murderer. The wound Daelus had received was likely fatal anyway, and they had been working their way into his chambers to finish him off. It was just simpler to call it a murder, not an attempted-murder but-I-beat-them-to-it-with-my-awesome-magic.

  What about motive? Daelus wasn't popur among the delegation but he was also mostly unknown. Some definitely disliked him. Phaeros, the mayor. Jossimer, the general (though he seemed to dislike everyone). Markander, the cardinal. Each would likely celebrate Daelus’ death, but why kill him, and why act now? What had pushed them over the edge? The artifact?

  Clearly they imagined that I had realized its value because they seemed to fully expect that I'd bring it home–to Daelus' home.

  Jonathan was overjoyed that I had recovered it, and made the obvious joke when I expined how I had opened the drawer. After giving him a nonplussed stare, our focus resumed. We needed to find out everyone who knew that I had that artifact.

  It had not come from one of Jossimer's adventures so he shouldn't have been aware.

  Delphiné, the propagandist, could have been aware. Her entourage was often at the museum.

  There was Carmichael, who was not a delegate but connected to the expedition of archeologists that uncovered it. If he knew then it was likely that Grégoire, of the research academy, also knew.

  The list wasn't long, but agonizingly, it forced us to consider motive from some we had considered friends.

  On the other hand, Delphiné nor Grégoire ever used their entourage in the way Daelus had seen. The projections seemed expertly deployed, swift and silent and precise. Still, if I could be kept a secret, other entourage skills could be just as easily.Kaite also had to be considered. She was, after all, the delegation’s assassin. She didn’t work for hire–she only handled official delegation business. If this killing was officially sanctioned by the Benefactors, she would be our best lead.

  Finally, there was Randall and his entourage, Jaegré. Did the entourage actually kill Randall, or was Randall also assassinated? The story was that Randall was strangled to death, but was that true? It would have been so easy for that entire story to have been a lie. Did they eliminate Randall because of what Jaeger was becoming? Did the delegation know and put a stop to it? Did they know what Daelus–what I–was doing?

  Johnathan and I both made our to-do lists. He went on building his murder board. I went to find my records–thankfully kept in my studio, not the museum–to see who else possibly knew about the artifact.